Elements with tag Quota
The EU fishing industry is calling for immediate EU action to stop Norway and Faroe Islands in their massive overfishing of the Northeast Atlantic mackerel stock. We reiterate our call on the EU Commission and Council to act swiftly and decisively on this reckless and irresponsible behaviour by using the instruments at its disposal such as trade measures and the IUU regulation.
The UK departure from the EU has profoundly altered the fisheries governance and political scenario in the Northeast Atlantic. In a move to take advantage of the new situation, Norway seems to have abandoned the path of dialogue and good cooperation, unilaterally deciding to unlawfully grab EU fish quota. This action not only poses a serious threat over the future of a constructive partnership with the EU but also over the sustainability of important fish stocks such as mackerel and cod. Since 60% of the fish caught by the Norwegians ends up in the European market, EU fishermen urge citizens to stop consuming Norwegian seafood.
The EU pelagic fishing industry, organized under the banners of EAPO and Europêche, strongly rejects the decision made public yesterday by the Norwegian government to unilaterally increase Norway’s share in the mackerel fishery by 55% and is calling on the EU to take immediate action by whatever means to stop it.
Today, the Fisheries Council has reached an agreement on the fishing opportunities in the Atlantic, North Sea, the Mediterranean and Black Sea for 2021, and for deep-sea stocks for 2021 and 2022. The catch limits are set in the background of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the COVID-19, for which this and next year will be one of the most difficult periods for EU fishers. Despite the Council’s efforts to mitigate the predominantly austere proposal from the European Commission, the fishing industry is still left with several quota reductions and restrictive measures adopted concerning key species for the livelihoods of many fishermen and women in the sector.
A two-day long intensive negotiation finished this very morning with the difficult political compromise reached by EU Fisheries ministers on the catch limits for 2020. This agreement reconciles to objective to secure healthy stocks with the need to ensure the socio-economic sustainability of the EU fleet. The latter was acknowledged by the Council which, after a predominantly conservationist proposal from the European Commission, adopted a better-balanced decision in light of the socio-economic data provided by Member States. The industry will however face many challenges for next year due to the extreme quota reductions and restrictive measures adopted for key species such as cod in all EU waters.
Today, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU have reached a political agreement on the European Commission proposal establishing a multi-annual plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea, the second of its kind. Europêche welcomes the final adoption of this legislative proposal which, in the context of regionalisation, will bring decision-making closer to Member States and fishermen through the adoption of joint recommendations. However, many questions such as the implementation of landing obligation and negotiations with third countries still remain open and unclear.
Hier, le 12 juillet 2017, le Comité des pêches du Parlement européen (PE) a adopté sa position sur la proposition de la Commission européenne établissant un plan pluriannuel pour les stocks démersaux en mer du Nord. Europêche félicite pour l'avancement décisif de l'adoption définitive de cette proposition législative qui, dans le contexte de la régionalisation, rapprochera les prises de décision des pêcheurs opérant dans ce domaine. Toutefois, certaines mesures adoptées par le PE, telles que l'introduction de quotas de pêche pluriannuels pour certains stocks, pourraient constituer une menace pour la mise en œuvre de l'obligation d'atterrissage et ne parviendront donc pas à faire face aux complexités de la pêche mixte.
La Cour des comptes européenne (CEA) a présenté aujourd'hui au Parlement européen un rapport spécial intitulé "Contrôles de la pêche de l'UE: plus d'efforts nécessaires". Le rapport a examiné l'efficacité du règlement actuel sur le contrôle des pêches de l'UE en vérifiant le système de contrôle mis en œuvre dans quatre États membres clés (Espagne, France, Italie et Royaume-Uni (Écosse)). La CEA a conclu que l'UE ne dispose pas encore d'un système de contrôle de la pêche suffisamment efficace pour soutenir la politique commune de la pêche (PCP). Europêche, tout en reconnaissant qu'il existe des domaines à améliorer, considère que le rapport ne reflète pas les progrès significatifs réalisés sur le contrôle et le suivi des pêches au cours des dernières années ni la situation actuelle dans l'ensemble de l'Union européenne.
Dans les premières heures, après deux jours de négociations intensives, le Conseil des pêches a conclu un accord sur les possibilités de pêche pour 2017 en fonction de l'objectif d'atteindre des rendements maximaux durables (RMS) d'ici 2017 si possible et d'ici 2020 au plus tard, alors que en tenant compte des facteurs socio-économiques dûment justifiés.
Avant le Conseil des pêches de décembre 2016, EAPO et Europêche ont envoyé un document de position commun avec des observations générales et des recommandations pertinentes pour environ 25 stocks aux membres du Conseil. En tant que tel, l'industrie de la pêche demande au Conseil des ministres des Pêches de ne pas prendre le calendrier vers un rendement maximal durable (MSY) en tant que dogme, mais d'appliquer une approche pragmatique et de bon sens pour atteindre les objectifs de la politique commune de la pêche (PCP).
La pêche démersale dans la mer Baltique a été frappée d'un coup énorme par le Conseil des ministres lundi soir, lorsqu'ils sont parvenus à un accord sur les possibilités de pêche pour 2017 dans la Baltique. Les ministres ont fini par s'entendre sur une réduction de quota d'au moins 56% pour le cabillaud dans la mer Baltique occidentale, tandis que le quota de cabillaud dans la mer Baltique orientale a été réduit de 25%.
Europêche, l'organisme représentatif des pêcheurs européens a répondu aux propositions de la Commission pour 2017 concernant les allocations de cabillaud de la Baltique, ce qui représente une diminution colossale par rapport aux chiffres de l'année dernière. Le quota proposé pour le cabillaud de la Baltique de l'Ouest s'élève à 1588 tonnes, baissé de 88% par rapport aux chiffres de 2016 et une réduction de près de 40% pour les stocks de l'Est.
Yesterday, 12th July 2017, the European Parliament (EP) Committee on Fisheries adopted its position on the European Commission proposal establishing a multi-annual plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea. Europêche welcomes the decisive step forward towards the final adoption of this legislative proposal which, in the context of regionalisation, will bring decision-making closer to fishers operating in this area. However, certain measures adopted by the EP, such as the introduction of multiannual fishing quotas for certain stocks, would pose a threat to the implementation of the landing obligation and therefore would fail to tackle the complexities of mixed fisheries.
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) presented today at the European Parliament a special report called "EU fisheries controls: more efforts needed". The report examined the effectiveness of the current EU fisheries Control Regulation by auditing the control system implemented in four key Member States (Spain, France, Italy and the UK (Scotland)). The ECA concluded that the EU does not yet have a sufficiently effective system of fisheries controls to support the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Europêche, while recognising that there are areas for improvement, considers that the report does not reflect the significant progress made on fisheries control and monitoring over the last years nor represents the actual situation in the whole European Union.
In the early hours, after two-day intensive negotiations, the Fisheries Council has reached an agreement over the fishing opportunities for 2017 based on the objective of achieving maximum sustainable yields (MSYs) by 2017 where possible, and by 2020 at the latest, while taking into consideration duly justified socio-economic factors.
In advance of the December Fisheries Council 2016, EAPO and Europêche have sent a joint position paper with general observations and relevant recommendations for about 25 stocks to the Council Members. As such the fishing industry is calling on the Council of Fisheries Ministers not to take the time table towards Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) as a dogma, but to apply a pragmatic and common sense approach to reaching the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) objectives.
Demersal fishing in the Baltic Sea has been dealt a huge blow by the Council of Ministers on Monday night when they reached agreement on fishing opportunities for 2017 in the Baltic. The ministers ended up agreeing on a quota reduction of no less than 56% for cod in the Western Baltic Sea, while the quota for cod in the Eastern Baltic Sea was reduced by 25%.
Today, after long hours of discussion in Luxembourg, EU Fisheries Ministers reached an agreement on the catch limits for 2022 for the ten main commercial stocks in the Baltic Sea. Despite the huge quota cuts in the last years for key species such as cod and herring in certain areas, the poor environmental status of the Baltic Sea, and not overfishing, is affecting the sustainability of these stocks. Nevertheless, Ministers have decided to further reduce fishing opportunities for Western and Central herring as well as for Western cod. On the positive side, the Council has agreed to increase fishing opportunities for plaice, sprat, Bothnian herring and Gulf of Finland salmon. Despite these increases, the reality is that 2022 will still remain an extremely challenging year for the Baltic fishers.